Your inner child: reconnected

The other day, in the feedback round of a course I’d been leading, a participant shared that I inspired her to reconnect with the child in her. When she spoke, she had happy tears in her eyes. Her eyes sparkled. They sparkled with a different kind of energy. I saw playfulness and creativity. Lightness and joy. Hope and even a tiny bit of ‘not giving a fuck’. A bit rebellious maybe, ready to stir things up.
This feedback felt as one of the bigger compliments I’ve received in a long time…

 

You know, when we look at those young kids, don’t we all melt a bit?

 

When we see how carefree they dare to be, aren’t we all a bit jealous?

 

When we witness how they respond when they make a mistake – and just keep trying – aren’t we all longing to have that back again?

 

Aren’t we longing back to those years where we were still clueless what ‘ego’ or ‘perfectionism’ meant? Where we weren’t aware of ‘politically correct’?

 

These years of our pure, childlike innocence and playfulness. Where did they go…..?

 

Maybe that’s even the wrong question to ask! Maybe instead ask yourself, where did the child in me go?

 

You’re still the same person, your DNA didn’t change. In essence, you’re still the same. Ok, I totally get that with growing up certain responsibilities come. Yet, does it all have to be so serious? Really…?

 

My longing for you is that you reconnect with your inner child and listen with an open heart for what it’s asking, or even screaming for. What is it that wants to break free again? You didn’t go through your teenage years to become a boring adult after all, did you?

 

Here is a request: will you look for a picture of you as a child and spend some time reconnecting with what you see, what you feel in its essence?

 

Then compare that with what you now see in the mirror. On a picture where you’re not posing to look impressive on social media.

 

What do you notice?

 

From there, what do you long for?

 

 

© Alex Verlek, January 2020